Contributing RP Jeff Smith answers the Politico Arena query as to whether House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi continues to be an effective foil for Republican candidates:
The trend’s spread to my neck of the woods, too: Missouri Republican Ed Martin kicked off his congressional campaign yesterday by tying prospective opponent Rep. Russ Carnahan to Pelosi as well (even though it was Steny Hoyer – not Pelosi – here campaigning for Carnahan the day before). This strategy appeared to be effective for Martin last cycle; he held Carnahan under 49 percent in a 59 percent Democratic Performance Index district.
Unfortunately, Pelosi’s numbers last fall were worse than Richard Nixon’s were during impeachment. Democrats can lament that and condemn Republicans for using sexist imagery and rhetoric to caricature her, but her cake is baked. (Wait, was that sexist?)
Since this appears to be a coordinated national message with money behind it, one can only assume that NRCC polling suggests that Pelosi remains a drag on Democratic congressional candidates in swing districts. It may not make sense given the House Dems’ relative impotence in the face of a Paul Ryan-driven agenda which is in itself quite unpopular, but I’m afraid these attacks still resonate.
Earlier today, former Governor and U.S. Senator Evan Bayh joined our team of contributing recovering politicians.
We thought it was appropriate then to share the video of his moving speech in which he announced that he would not seek a third term in the U.S. Senate. The themes he strikes — a lack of civility in politics, the hyper-partisanship of Washington — are many of the same messages that animated the creation of The Recovering Politician.
So sit back and enjoy our RPTV Friday Video Flashback:
Our newest contributing recovering politician was a Secretary of State, two-term Governor, two-term Senator, and on the short-list of potential Vice Presidential nominees three times. So Evan Bayh needs little introduction. Suffice it to say that the centrist Democrat is one of the most well-known and well-respected recovering politicians in the country.
In this week’s edition of RPTV’s Fifteen Minutes of Fame, Bayh shares his thoughts about political retirement, the virtue of public service, and the fiscal course our nation faces. Enjoy this interview as the RP welcomes Bayh to The Recovering Politician:
Yesterday, the RP, contributing RP Lisa Borders, and a group of other Democrats, Republicans and Independents from across the country, helped launch No Labels Radio.
No Labels is a new grassroots movement of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who are united in the belief that we do not have to give up our labels, merely put them aside to do what’s best for America. No Labels Radio will offer a weekly dose of news and interviews with the policymakers who are working to find bipartisan answers to the otherwise intractable problems our country faces.
No Labels Radio is broadcast every Thursday at 2 PM EDT.
Yesterday’s broadcast is now online. You can listen to it here:
As we previewed a few hours ago, the RP, contributing RP Lisa Borders, and a bipartisan group of national leaders, committed to promoting civility and bipartisan solutions to the nation’s toughest problems, have launched No Labels Radio.
No Labels is a new grassroots movement of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who are united in the belief that we do not have to give up our labels, merely put them aside to do what’s best for America. No Labels Radio will offer a weekly dose of news and interviews with the policymakers who are working to find bipartisan answers to the otherwise intractable problems our country faces.
Starting today at 2 PM EDT, and then reappearing every Thursday at the same time, the RP — along with contributing RP Lisa Borders and others — is serving as a co-host for No Labels Radio.
No Labels is a new grassroots movement of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who are united in the belief that we do not have to give up our labels, merely put them aside to do what’s best for America. No Labels Radio will offer a weekly dose of news and interviews with the policymakers who are working to find bipartisan answers to the otherwise intractable problems our country faces.
If you are interested in the organization, click here to learn about how you can help promote civility and reduce the hyper-partisan influences on public policy.
And regardless of your political preferences, please join the RP on No Labels Radio at 2:00 PM EDT today and every subsequent Thursday.
Contributing RP Artur Davis has been an outspoken national leader on the subject of the proper role of faith in public policy. Four years ago, he sat down for an interview to summarize his views on this subject. His words rings true today, especially in light of the partisanship and polarization plaguing American politics.
In his role as a contributing member of Politico’s “Arena,” contributing RP Jeff Smith was asked if he believed the U.S. Senate’s “Gang of Six” — a bipartisan group formed to develop a solution to the budget deficit crisis — would remain relevant after the recent departure of conservative Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma.
Here’s Jeff’s answer:
The Gang remains relevant. Given his nature, Coburn could return as easily as he left; sure, he may be frustrated, but it’s probably just a tactic to get more movement from Durbin. Apparently they’re close to an agreement; if $130 billion more in Medicare savings is the main sticking point in an effort to achieve $4 billion in overall debt reduction, it would seem that this impasse can be bridged. And the ten weeks remaining to bridge it is an eternity: as with a tied NBA championship game with ten seconds left, there may be many more twists and turns to come.
By my count, six Republicans of differing degrees of stature have passed on running for President. Some of the hesitation is rooted in jitters about entering the national stage prematurely (Pence, Thune, maybe Christie, if he is chemically capable of jitters); some of it is based on a cold assessment that Barack Obama plus a billion dollar war-chest is too high a barrier in the fall, and that playing kingpin in the primaries is an appealing enough way to spend the winter and spring of 2012.
(1) Can Romney win a nomination when his signature accomplishment is anathema to his party? In the early part of the last decade, when a centrist record seemed essential to winning general elections, Romney’s stewardship of healthcare reform in Massachusetts seemed ideal pre-positioning for an eventual presidential run. Today, “Romneycare” is why a candidate who just raised 10 million dollars in a day, and who leads in the polls, is still so vulnerable. Roughly 80% of Republicans not only oppose the national legislation that copies major portions of Romney’s work, they loathe it and desperately desire its repeal. Romney’s efforts to explain away the comparison are so far a babble and greater scrutiny of his plan will only make matters worse.
Romney’s hope is that electability, the fact that he alone polls within hailing distance of Obama, will outweigh his albatross. His problem is that in primaries, electability is a vessel for blank slates, not candidates with a freight train of positions. Nor is Bill Clinton ‘s “centrist campaign” in 92 much of a model. Clinton’s defense of the death penalty and his then vague promises to revamp welfare were hardly signature issues that year; in contrast, the fate of Obama’s healthcare law will be front and center, especially in the GOP electorate. The hard reality for Romney: Gerald Ford is the last candidate who won a nomination with his party opposed to major chunks of his record and that did not end well.
(2) Is there a “silent majority” in the Republican Party? Jon Huntsman and to a degree, Mitch Daniels, think there is and that it is very different from the cultural conservative base that the term was coined to describe. The reason that Huntsman conceives that a social moderate who served in the Obama Administration can win, and the reason that Daniels call for a “truce” on abortion and gay rights, is that in their estimation there is a sleeping center in the Republican Party that distrusts the “culture wars”. There is limited circumstantial evidence for the premise: national polls for the better part of a decade have shown unexpected Republican sympathies for abortion rights and gay rights. But primaries and early caucuses contain more than their share of evangelical leaning conservatives who remain embracing of a traditional moral agenda.
Read the rest of… Artur Davis: Handicapping the Republican Primary
By Jonathan Miller, on Tue May 17, 2011 at 12:30 PM ET
Last week, I opined that the mainstream media should leave Arnold Schwartzenegger and Maria Shriver alone as they went through the very painful personal process of a separation and potential divorce.
I am sticking to my guns (semi-automatic weapons, in tribute to the Governator.). Whatever you think of the morality of Arnold’s behavior, unless you are a family member or close friend of any of the parties involved, it is None of Your Freaking Business. (NYFB)
